Shopping for Christmas presents can lead one astray. When considering gift prospects for a friend, I decided to visit Flora Grubb Gardens in Marina Del Rey following a pre-Christmas lunch with other friends at a nearby restaurant. I initially focused on a Protea, as my friend was impressed by one we saw in bloom during our trip to Seaside Gardens in late October. However, when making my selection, I started to worry about whether it would be a good fit as she hasn't grown anything in the Protea family and the conditions in her garden, nearly fifty miles north of mine, are very different. I decided to buy one Protea and one tropical Rhododendron and offer her a choice, as I've considered getting both plants for myself and wouldn't mind keeping whichever one she rejected. She chose the Protea and took it home last weekend. Meanwhile, I'd convinced myself I had just the right spot for another Protea, so I decided to make another trip to Marina Del Rey this week to pick one up for myself.
Flora Grubb Gardens is about a fifty mile round trip for me so of course I had to make another round of the nursery once I arrived. By comparison to the other local garden centers I frequent, the plants at this one are always exuberantly healthy. In all three trips I've made there, I've yet to see a plant that wasn't in pristine condition.
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| Assorted Leucadendrons and what looks like Agave vilmoriniana (I didn't check) |
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| Cordylines, Grevilleas, and Opuntias |
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| Euphorbia tirucalli 'Sticks on Fire' looks its best at this time of year but I'll never need to buy any as I have an endless supply |
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| Various other displays, including one featuring Proteas currently in bloom (upper left) |
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| I was briefly entranced with this Stenocarpus sinuatus (aka firewheel tree). It was tempting but it could get bigger than the space I have available for another tree. The one I've seen at South Coast Botanic Garden always looks a little sickly but this one looked exceptionally healthy. |
Even after checking other options, I decided to stick with with the same Protea I gave my friend.
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| Here's my own Protea 'Claire', slated to be planted in a bed at the front of the house. I have another Protea, P. neriifolia 'Pink Ice', planted in a sunny spot in my north side garden. It's yet to bloom but it's getting closer. |
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| This is a Vireya Rhododendron, labeled 'Mitch Mitchell', which is the name of a prominent breeder of the tropical varieties. I can't grow the Rhododendrons common in the Pacific Northwest but long ago another blogger suggested that I might be able to grow the Vireya types. This will be an experiment and I plan to plant it in a large terracotta container. |
I made a couple other unexpected purchases for myself this week as well when I discovered that a very ambitious gopher has moved into my garden. I had a gopher problem several years ago but it moved on after a little encouragement. These critters are rampant in my area so it was just a matter of time before they returned. My husband read that they're mostly solitary creatures, occupying territories of approximately one acre but, given the amount of movement this one has made recently, it's hard to believe he doesn't have an entire platoon accompanying him.
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| The mounds provide solid evidence of the sandy condition of my soil |
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| I bought more solar-powered sonic gopher repellents. I've tried the ones with replaceable batteries but they don't seem to last any longer than those with batteries that can't be replaced. I bought 2 new sets, all of which have on-off buttons so, if and when they do their jobs, I can turn them off and store them away to be brought out as needed. Hopefully, that'll give them a longer life span and reduce my use of disposable plastic items. |
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| In addition to the 12 new sonic stakes, I've got 3 remaining stakes with replaceable batteries for a total of 15 in my back garden. Three of the new stakes are shown here. The 4th location shown above (lower left) is a new mound discovered the day after I installed the stakes, demonstrating that sonic irritation by itself won't immediately get rid of the annoying creature. |
To further bolster my effort, I also bought a bag of a granular gopher deterrent, scattering it throughout the back garden beds. The granules must be watered into the soil to have an effect. I was counting on rain to hasten the gopher's departure but we didn't receive any measurable precipitation until last night and even that was light. The forecasters are now projecting that first of two "real" rainstorms will arrive late Wednesday or early Thursday. I'm dreaming of a wet Christmas.
All material © 2012-2023 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
So many great looking plants at that nursery. I love those sticks on fire every time I see them in someone's blog post. They grow them at the botanic garden here for fancy pots but they have the fancy greenhouse one needs. I think we will be joining you in a wet Christmas. Very little snow so far this year and temps about to be 20° above normal for December. Nice to drive on dry roads but the weather is more disturbing than pleasant.
ReplyDeleteI heard an item on today's news report that snow is light all over the US thus far. That's alarming for all of us. We don't get snow in my area of course but the snowpack in Northern California is critical to the water supply during the summer months.
DeleteI've only been to Flora Grubb in San Francisco, but I agree, their plants are always pristine (reflected in the pricing as well).
ReplyDeleteVireyas should do well for you. I've seen them in a garden in Oakland, and they were thriving there.
Since you got more sonic gopher repellents, I assume they work? I don't have a gopher issue, but I have friends who do.
I haven't been able to bring myself to use poison or kill-traps to get rid of the gophers, Gerhard. Those are probably quicker but the combination of the sonic devices and the deterrent granules has worked for me before. The idea is to guide the critters away from the garden, in my case down onto the back slope and into the canyon. The biggest downside with the solar-powered sonic devices is that they generally last only 1-2 years and the batteries aren't replaceable. I was concerned about discarding all that plastic but the ones with conventional batteries don't hold up much longer - they stop working even with new batteries. We recycle the solar-powered ones through a service that accepts batteries but I don't know what happens to the plastic they're encased in. As the new batch has on-off switches, at least they may last longer.
DeleteI hope the gopher repellents work and quickly! Lovely new protea & rhododendron.
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty excited about the new Protea, even through the old one ('Pink Ice') has taken its time about flowering. However, I'm starting with a larger plant and a sunnier location this time.
Delete"Exuberantly healthy" is a great thing at a nursery. I love Dustin Gimbels work there, a great match! Reading through your post and drooling over the plants I'm thinking maybe it's a good thing I wasn't able to make the long drive down from our perch in Thousand Oaks last month, there are so many things I would have wanted to take home!
ReplyDeleteThe vast majority of the plants at the Marina Del Rey location were in larger pots, which I don't imagine you could get on a plane, Loree. Unless maybe you could convince the airline that you needed your emotional support agave on hand in order to fly ;)
DeleteEnjoyed seeing the plants at FG, thanks. It was my impression as well that their plants were beautifully grown and in top condition.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the tropical Rhody I hope it thrives for you. Almost bought one myself, but could not think of a place for it. 'Clair' has had a very tidy vertical growth habit here--so far anyway, that might change--unlike the sprawling 'Pink Ice' or massive 'Sylvia'.
I use the "black hole" trap for gophers, though we've been lucky and it's been a few years since one has appeared in the garden. All the coyotes, owls, and hawks seem to have encouraged them to go elsewhere. Best of luck for avoiding gopher damage.
I avoided the gophers for quite a few years but, just when I'd gotten smug about getting red of them, they reappeared. They're literally all over the area. I'm not sure what's happened with the coyotes, although there have been campaigns to relocate them - I haven't even seen one in well over a year. At one point, I found evidence of poisoned rats so, for all I know, we lost some owls due to foolish behavior on the part of local residents. I still see hawks on a periodic basis but they don't seem to be swooping over the garden any more.
DeleteChristmas shopping for one's self is the best! Proteas make me think of the Taft Gardens. If you haven't seen it yet, you'd probably enjoy Tresco Abbey Gardens off the coast of Cornwall, their take one proteas: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9F0obmAQJs
ReplyDeleteThanks for the link, Denise. So many wonderful specimens in the Protea family and so little space!
DeleteLooks like a great place to shop for plants and garden supplies. And you deserve a special gift for yourself! :)
ReplyDeleteMaybe I should have called them gifts to my garden ;)
DeleteWhat a thoughtful friend and as such you need to reward yourself too. 'Tis the season.
ReplyDeleteThat's a nice way to put it, Elaine!
DeleteI need some of those devices to deter mice and voles Kris! Must look around for some. Our soil is sandy in places too and they are causing havoc in all my beds this winter… That nursery has a great choice. I would have splashed out too!
ReplyDeleteThe solar-powered sonic devices have worked for me, especially when combined with the deterrent granules watered into the soil, Cathy. My only issue with them is that their batteries aren't replaceable so, when they ultimately fail, I'm throwing away a lot of plastic. I tried stakes that use regular batteries but, for whatever reason, they eventually fail too (i.e., they stop working even with new batteries).
DeleteWe're having a brown Christmas this year, alas, with temps in the 40s (which is about 10º above average). I know you think that is cold, but to us, it is balmy! Eliza
ReplyDeleteEven our nighttime temperatures are in the low-to-mid 50s, Eliza. The daytime temperatures are in the mid-60s and people are complaining about that too! (Not me!) I'm sorry you can't look forward to a pretty white blanket for Christmas :(
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